Cult game Football Manager 2018 is adding support for gay players

Cult game Football Manager 2018 is adding support for gay players

Cult soccer football simulation game Football Manager has taken an historic step with the introduction of support for gay players in its next launch.

The upcoming 2018 version of the franchise, which typically generates over one million sales per year, will for the first time see players to come out in the game. Sports Interactive, the company behind the hit, said the feature will only apply to ‘newgen’ players — fictional players who are released into the game every season — to prevent the company being sued. Likewise, it won’t apply to players who are from countries where being homosexual is illegal.

“I find it weird that it’s still a problem in football so we decided to try and show people that coming out isn’t a big deal and can be a positive thing,” Jacobson explained. “I just think it’s crazy that in 2017 we are in a world where people can’t be themselves.”

This isn’t the first time that the Football Manager series has embraced topics outside of the sport. Last year’s installment incorporated Brexit using a system that included a range of scenarios which varied from game to game with had differing impacts on the professional soccer industry in the UK.